Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The invention concerns an improved procedure
by means of which a panty-hose product or the equiva-
lent can be made directly on a machine by using circu-
lar machines which produce stockings or socks and which
are of the two-cylinder type or have a cylinder and
plate with radial needles but in any e~ent have two
needle bars of cooperating needles.
The in~ention also concerns a machine fi-tted to
carry out the method of the invention and also a pro-
duct obtained with the method in question.
As compared to other known embodiments, the
in~ention fulfils its purpose of ensuring greater stead-
fastness in the connections between the two parts of
the product along the line of the crutch, of permitting
simpler and also faster processing and of obtaining a
satisfactory aesthetic appearance.
The invention is applied to a procedure Eor the
formatlon of a panty-hose productc~rthe like by means
of knitting machines with two needle bars and, in par-
ticular, with opposed cylinders or with needles of one
cylinder and radial needIes of a plate, the processing
being done with a continuous~motion of rotation~ where-
by two tubular products are formed at one and the same
time with the two needle bars and with different feeds
or descents of yarns, and whereby the panty portion is
formed with parts of tubular products with a lengthwise
connect.ing zone cut in a lengthwise direction.
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According to the invention, needles of the two needle
bars are activated in said connecting zone so as to
form, with one feed or a plurality of feeds or even
with all the feeds, a structure of ribbed stitching
with plain stitches and purl stitches next to each
other.
The structure of the ribbed stitching can be
of a I : I type, namely with one plain stitch and then
one purl stitch.
The connecting zone can be formed of two ban~s~
namely zones of ribbed stitching separated by a tract
having 'chreads which are not knitted~ where the cut is
made; each band is formed of some rows of stitches which
are alternately plain and purl.
The connecting zone can be made with a number
of courses greater than (two times greater, at the most)
that o~ the neighbouring textures.
The invention also concerns a machine to carr~
out the aforesaid procedure, said machine being of a
type wherein two needle bars of needles cooperate with
cam-wise drive means that activate the needles of one
needle bar in correspondence with some feeds and also
the needles of the other needle bar in correspondence
with other feeds, so as to form two products, one inside
the other, whereby means are envisaged to drive needles
of a connecting zone so as to connect the two products
lengthwise, and also to carry out a lengthwise cut in
said zone in order to form the line of the crutch.
Accordiny to the invention the machine comprises an arc
of corresponding needles in both the needle hars, where-
by said needles are intended to form said connecting
zone and are suitable for being driven, with one or
several feeds or all the feeds, so as to take the
thread alternately with needles of one or the other of
the needle bars in order to form rows of ribbed s-tit-
ching.
A further ob~ect of the invention is a panty-
hose product or the like made with the procedure and
with the machine defined hereinbefore.
The invention will be understood more readily by
examining the description and attached figures, wherein
a practical but not restrictive example of the inven-
tion itself is shown, and wherein: -
FigO 1 shows diagrammatically a section of the
product in the process of being cut, bent
outwards and spread out;
Fig. 2 shows a detail of Fig. l after the produc-t
has-,been bent outwards;
Fig. 3 shows a portion of fabric with the pro-
gress of the course of stitches corres-
ponding with the connection alon~ the
line of the crutch;
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f~
Figs. 4 & 5 show in perspective a portion of
the product before and while it is
ben-t outwards;
Fig. 6 shows a part of the product after it has
been bent outwards;
Figs. 7 & 8 show the position of the needles of
two opposed cylinders during two
successive moments while the body
of the product is being formed;
Figs. 9 & 10 give an elevation and a plan view,
both in linear development, of a
position of the needles of a cy-
linder and plate during a moment
in the processing of the body of
the product;
Figs.ll & 12 are like Figs. 9 & 10 but show the
position of the needles during a
successive moment.
According to the details shown in the attached
figures, the formation of a double tubular fabric is
envisaged as ta]cing place by means of two sets of nee-
dles on two needle bars.
Figs.9 to 12 inclusive show a lay-out wherein
are visualized a needle bar or bed of needles in a cy-
linder and a bar or bed of radial needle hooks 13 in a
plate or disk combined with the cylinder. AI, A2, A3
and A4 indicate four positions of yarn feed with thread
guides GI, G2, G3 and G~. When the needles II take
the thread, they form plain stitches, whereas when the
needles 13 take the thread, they form purl stitches.
Normally, so as to form two semi-finished tubular pro-
ducts 15 and 17 at the same time with continuous mo-
tion, the needles 13 take the thread in correspondence
with the feeds ~2 and A4, whereas the needles II take
the thread in correspondence with the feeds AI and A3;
the two tubular elements having the reference numbers
15 and 17 respecti~ely are thus formed progressiveiy at
one and the same time.
To form the body portion of the product (at the
beginning or end of formatlon of the whole product) it
is necessary to make a connection between the two fa-
brics and a cut along a tract of the lengthwise develop-
ment of the two tubes of fabric, as indicated with T
in Fig. ~ and also in Fig. I, where 15 is the reference
number of the tubular fabric formed inside while 17 is
that of the tubular fabric formed outside, each of them
being formed with the needles 13 or 15 of one of the
needle bars. C indicates zones to connect the two ele-
ments 15 and 17 separated by the cut T.
In the formation of the body of the product
the connecting zone Cc is made, typically, by processing
simultaneously with a group of needles II and with a
group of needles 13 structures of fabric with ribbed
stitching, whereby needles II and needles 13 are
~ lt~
activated at the same time in correspondence with one
feed or several or, better still, all the feeds Al, A2,
A3, A4. A lay-out of this klnd is given in Figs. 9,
10 and 11, 12, which show two moments in the formation
of the connecting zones of fabric Cc respectively in
front of the feed Al and feed A2 o a cylinder-and-plate
complex with needles.
Figs. 9 and 10 show the momentary condition in
which the needles pass before the feed Al which are
pre-set to form the zone Cc; therefore, at that moment
not all the needles II are raised, nor are all the
needles 13 kept inside, but rather in front of said
feed Al (which usually serves for the formation of the
product with the needles II), out of all the needles II,
only those indicated with IIA (two pairs in the table)
are raised, while the needles marked IIB and also the
two middle needles IIC are kept low; furthermore, in
that situation the needles 13 of the plate indicated
with 13A, which correspond with the unraised needles
IIs, are also withdrawn; before the feeds A2 and A4
only the needles 13 come out (to form the fabric 15),
while in front of the feed A3 only the needles II come
out (to form the fabric 17).
Let us now consider the moment shown in Figs. II
and 12 and observe that only the needles II work with
the feeds AI and A3, while only the needles 13 work with
the feed A~.
In front of the feed A2 there pass the needles
pre-set for formation of the zone Cc, namely the
needles IIA, IIB, IIC, and 13A, which are once more
selected, as already said wi-th regard to Figs. 9 and
10, for the feed AI in such a way as to form the con-
necting zone Cc of fabric.
When the needles pre-set to form the connecting
zone Cc pass before the feeds A3 and A4, the conditions
are repeated which are shown for the feed AI in Figs. 9
and 10 and for the feed A2 in Figs. II and 12.
Figs. 7 and ~ show the lay-out and methods of
working to fulfil the invention in the case of a machi-
ne with two opposecl cylinders. AII,A12, A13 and A14
indicate the four feeds exemplified tbut the lay-out
may have any other number of feeds greater than one),
whereas GII,~2, G13 and G14 are the respective thread
guides.The needles 31 of the lower cylinder work with
the feeds A11 and A13 to ~orm the fabric 17, whereas
the needles 33 of the upper cylinder work with the feeds
A12 and A14 to form the fabric 15. In the conn~cting
zone Cc the needles of the two cylinders are driven in
front of all the feeds so as to make the lower needles
31A take the thread, the needles 31B and also the needle
or needles 31C being kept low, and to make the upper
needles 33A (corresponding with the needles 31B) take
the thread, the needles 33B and also the needle or
needles 33C being prevented from protruding and being
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kept within the upper cylinder. In FigO 7 the zone Cc
passes before the feed ~11, while in Fig. 8 it passes
before the feed ~12; this function is also repeated in
front of the other feeds A13, A14.
For the drive of the group of needles
31-33 pre-set to form the zone Cc, butts can be envi-
saged which have a special height or particular levels
on the needles or needle jacks in the channels of said
needles, or else other dispositions ma~ be made for the
purpose which are well known to experts in this field.
It seems to be enough to process the connecting zone Cc
with the two feeds Al and A3 (or All and A13) alone.
In this way a structure Oe fabric, as
shown with Cc in Fig. 3, is obtained, the coùrses of
which in that zone comprise alternately plain stitches
MD and purl stitches MR, namely with a structure of
ribbed stitching; in this way, beginniny from the
peripheral zones indicated with E, stitches are formed
with the threads of one produot 15 together with stitches
of threads forming the other product 17. In a central
zone marked F (and formed through the lack of activity
of the needles llC and 31C, 33C) there can be an absence
of stitches as none of the needles (llC and the corres~
ponding 13C) is driven to take the thread and form the
stitch.
The cut indicated with the arrows T is
made in this central zone F; said cut can be performed
in any suitable way, for instance with heat applied by
a resistance that melts the yarn, or with cutting
devices with blades activated in a -timely manner, or
with elements sliding in the needle seatings and
equipped with a blade or other cuttiny edge caused to
operate when said element is raised, the solution being
analogous to that of the needles. Thus, the cut can he
carried out directly on the machine, whereby the p~o-
duct reaches the situation shown in Fig. 4 with one of
the tubes 17-15 inserted in the other, for in that
condition they are seen as they are formed by the two
needle beds or needle bars II and 13.
Having been separated, the product is
then spread apart, with the fabric 15 bent ou-twards
from the fabric 17 and turned over, as shown in Fig. 5,
so as to reach the situation of Fig. 6, wherein the
connecting zones C, like the so-called "runs" at the
end of working, are inside the product. In the zones
C there is a steadfas-t union of the product along the
line of the crutchr as is shown in Fig. 6 where it can
be seen clearly that the parts C form the connection
between the two fabrics of the sides of the body of the
product. The fabric in the zones C conslsts, as said
earlier, of ribbed stitching and of yarns belonging
~5 alternately ko one or the other of the tubular fabrics
15 and 17.For the most part the number of courses in
the zones C is twice as many as the number of courses
.'7~l~f~
in each of the fabrics 15 and 17 within the same unit
of length; this ensures a very effective connecting
structure. From an aesthetic point of view the product
takes on an appearance better than that obtained with
products envisaged hitherto in previous solutions.
It is to be understood that the figures
show only one example, which is given as a practical
demonstration of the invention, but the invention can
be varied as regards forms and lay~outs without depart-
ing thereby from the scope of the concept which inspires
the invention itself. Obviously there is no limit to
the length of the connecting zones or, therefore, to
- -the vertical development of the body of the product.
It should be noted that, as said earlier,
the connections can be made with all the feeds or with
a reduced number of feeds. If we consider the case of
four feeds Al-A2~A3-A4, the use of all these feeds -to
make the connection enables the cross-wise stresses to
~ be reduced, as the connecting zone will thus have a
number of courses twice as great as the number of courses
in the neighbouring fabrics; a connection made with only
two feeds is performed with the same number of courses
as that of the neighbouring fabrics and permits a given
mechanical simpliication.
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